Fog socks in region: Heavy rain and winds with possible flooding to follow

Thursday

Jan 31, 2013 at 3:15 AMJan 31, 2013 at 5:31 AM

By Andrea Bulfinchabulfinch@fosters.com

DOVER — While no specific locations have been identified, officials say recent weather has set the region up for possible flooding, especially as heavy rain and winds move into the area today.

Winds Wednesday evening into tonight were expected to be “strong enough to down tree limbs and cause sporadic power outages,” according to Accuweather.com.

Jim Martin, public information officer for the state Department of Environmental Services, said no specific areas or rivers in the state have been identified as being at risk for flooding, however, the weather experienced recently means the overall possibility for flooding continues.

“Based on the weather pattern at the moment there is the potential to have problems,” Martin said.

Accuweather.com meteorologists forecast that “a period of drenching, blinding rain will push from west to east,” and bring with it the potential for a couple inches of rain over just a few hours this morning.

Margaret Curtis, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Gray, Maine, said the large systems that have moved through the Midwest and on to the East would move rain and heavy fog through southern New Hampshire and Maine just before temperatures are expected to plummet once again after having reached their highest Wednesday in some time.

Visibility was poor throughout the entire day and into the evening Wednesday as heavy fog smothered the Seacoast and Tri City areas.

Jeff Schloss, Natural Resources Program Team Leader with the University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension, said “the potential for flooding is greatest when there is a significant snow pack that has partially melted during freeze and thaw cycles and that starts saturating the soil below creating iced or extremely wet snow on top.

“Any significant rainstorm under these conditions has the potential to cause flooding as there is a limited ability for the saturated soils or wet snowcover to absorb the additional water,” he explained via email, adding this situation would result in larger water volumes right away.

Mixed with icy conditions, the friction coefficient of the landscape comes down to zero, or close to it, and then any “water moves much faster downslope.”

Thunder was also predicted in Accuweather.com's forecast over the next 24 hours, though in New England it was predicted that “intense rain and locally damaging wind” would be what hits the region the most, creating tricky traveling conditions once again for area motorists.